Astoundingly, this arilbred, which I have been told is
often extremely difficult to grow, not only survived its first winter in
my frigid garden AND the killer winter-spring transition that proved fatal
to over 150 different TB cultivars, but it actually *bloomed*!!! The
most amazing element of this accomplishment, however, is the fact that I
didn't receive this rz until Oct last year, so it didn't get planted until
*after* we'd already had our first hard freeze! I can generally bet
on losing any bearded planted here after the end of August due to
inadequate root growth before freezing weather, and I try to make sure
everything's in the ground before the end of July just to be safe.
There's simply NO WAY this gorgeous arilbred should have made it through
last winter! Not that I'm complaining. :-)